Dollar gains on black market

Unofficial exchange points sold the greenback at VND25,120, up 0.08% from Wednesday.

Vietcombank maintained the dollar at VND24,770.

The State Bank of Vietnam’s reference rate was stable at VND24,031.

The dollar as rise by 1.43% against the dong since the beginning of the year.

Globally the dollar was broadly steady near a six-week high on Thursday, as investors await GDP and other data this week to gauge where U.S. rates are headed, while the euro was soft ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting later in the day, Reuters reported.

Data overnight showed U.S. business activity picked up in January and inflation appeared to abate, with a measure of prices charged by companies for their products falling to the lowest level in more than 3-1/2 years.

The dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six rivals, rose 0.06% to 103.33 after dropping 0.2% on Tuesday as traders consolidated their positions ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week.

The first reading of U.S. gross domestic product for the fourth quarter is expected to show an economy resilient to the steep interest rate increases, said Carol King, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.